The Encourager

A Publication of Encouragement Ministries

The Love of God

Ephesians 3:17-20     I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 

Jeremiah 31:3     I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with loving-kindness. 

John 3:16     For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

Romans 5:8     God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

I John 3:1     How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. 

Deuteronomy 33:12     The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; And the Lord shall cover him all the day long. 

Joshua 1:5     I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 

Isaiah 51:12     I, even I, am He that comforts you. 

Isaiah 66:13     As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you. 

Nehemiah 9:17      Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful. 

Lamentations 3:22     Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 

Matthew 28:20      I am with you always, to the very end of the age. 

John 15:13      Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Romans 8:35-37     Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

God, our hearts become humbled when we think of how you love us. Draw us to Yourself by your great mercy, help us to trust you with all of our cares and to love you with all of our heart.

The Lost Lamb

There once was a shepherd who had spent his whole life tending his flock. Over the years he had seen when each one was born. He would call them by name for he loved his lambs. Each night the shepherd would call his sheep and they would come because they knew his voice and he would count them one by one to see that all were safe.

But one night he saw that a lamb was missing. At that moment the only thought in the shepherd's mind was the lost lamb. Hardly even thinking about the flock he ran into the night calling his lamb. As he walked the darkness became cold so he put his coat up around himself and thought "Where is my lamb on such a cold night as this?" The hours passed and he could hear the howling of the wolves in the distance. His pace started to become more rapid. "Where is my lamb on a dangerous night like this!" As thoughts of his lamb in danger began to whirl around in his mind, the shepherd looked out across a large cold field. There he saw his lamb shivering with fright. He ran to it and gathered it up in his arms. He was so glad to see the lamb that he didn't even think of why it had wandered off. All he knew was that he had found his precious one. He took off his coat and wrapped it around the cold lamb and carried it home singing with joy that his lamb that was lost was now found.                            
by Cheryl Andreasen
 

All scripture taken from the Holy Bible, The New International  
Version, Zondervan Bible Publishers and The Living Bible, Tyndale House Publishers.

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